“JP 10-007020A” proposes lower vehicle body structure in which lower portions of front pillars can absorb an impact applied to a vehicle body via wheels during a collision, even if the vehicle body structure does not allow lower end portions of the front pillars to project toward the front of the vehicle. In the structure, a mounting portion of a lower door hinge, which mounts to the front pillar, is attached to a lower part of an outer sidewall portion in the vehicle width direction, which constitutes an outer portion of each front pillar in the vehicle width direction. Furthermore, one bead, which protrudes in a semicircular shape toward the outer side in the vehicle width direction, is formed in a middle portion of the mounting portion in the front and rear direction, so as to extend along the vertical direction. In addition, another bead is also formed in an outer wall portion, in the vehicle width direction, of an outer panel for the front pillar, which is opposed to the one bead.
Regarding the recent trend in which outer shapes of outer reinforcements for side sills become larger in the vehicle width direction, “JP 2000-211549 A” proposes the following front structure of a vehicle body as an example of structure for lower end portions of front pillars and front portions of outer reinforcements for side sills. Specifically, a reinforced member is arranged in an inner portion of the outer reinforcement for the side sill in the vehicle width direction, so as to extend in the vehicle front and rear direction. A notch formed in the outer reinforcement for the front pillar is blocked by an inner part of a front wall portion of the reinforced member in the vehicle width direction, and an inner part of a wide portion of the reinforced member in the vehicle width direction, so that the front structure of the vehicle body can withstand an impact load during a vehicle offset collision.